


The Story of D

by yuletide_archivist



Category: Pet Shop of Horrors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-12-22
Updated: 2005-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-25 01:22:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1624103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuletide_archivist/pseuds/yuletide_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leon promised Chris that he would find D.  A promise is a promise, no matter how long it takes, and Leon just might discover something about himself along the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Story of D

**Author's Note:**

> Written for mercuriosity

 

 

**~ D is for determination ~**

It seemed like a good idea at the time, it really did.

Collapsing onto a bench, Leon drags a hand over his face and lets out a low groan. Sometimes, he realises wearily, he has really good ideas, but maybe this wasn't one of them. Perhaps learning not to rush into things head-first is a rather good idea.

He snorts. Right. He'll learn not to barrel into things as soon as he gives up smoking and porn.

Of course, if he had been told two years ago that he'd be so obsessed with Count D and his pet shop that he'd be chasing him around the world, he'd have broken the guy's nose - only after howling with laughter so hard that he'd nearly choke. Funny, how things can change in two years.

He sighs, the automatic urge for a cigarette making his hand twitch. Leon had never been afraid to admit he was addicted - the number of cigarettes he went through daily and an honest-to-God craving were testament to exactly how addicted he was. D had never liked what he termed to be 'a filthy habit', accusing him more than once of deliberately polluting his body for the sake of a sickening habit. And Leon had honestly cut down, especially when he was in the pet shop. And for what?

D. Leon grits his teeth, the need for nicotine practically pulsing through his veins. D, that _bastard_. How _dare_ he? How dare he, in his small-minded, selfish view - how _dare_ he -?

Leon presses his lips together as he fires a particularly vicious glare at a nearby bird, which immediately takes flight. Leon groans again, letting his head loll back as he stares up at the overcast sky. That damn bird probably knows D and now D will know that he's after him, and Leon is officially beginning to lose the last of his sanity because now he thinks the animals are tattling on him to D. But Leon has seen enough not to dismiss the possibility.

He shudders, remembering waking up in the pet shop ( _only it wasn't a pet shop anymore_ ) and being surrounded by D and his animals ( _only they weren't animals anymore_ ). Those animals were no more normal than D was, and, considering that memory, Leon suddenly doesn't feel all that crazy for believing that animals are watching him.

He feels like he's being watched all the time, in fact. Paranoia: it's fur and feathered shaped.

Thinking about D means thinking about the animals, which means thinking about that raccoon and goat-sheep-thing that were always around Chris. Chris... he's long been overdue giving Chris a call and letting him know where he is. Poor kid probably thinks he's dead, or something.

Leon knows what the others think about him - that he's finally gone off the deep end and that D has finally turned him 'round the twist, that his infatuation has turned into obsession and vice versa. Jill probably thinks that he's turned into some crazed stalker.

He's not. He just needs to find out the truth.

It doesn't matter what the others think, only what Leon thinks, and he thinks that D is out there and that he's going to find him.

D has forgotten that he and Chris are human. D has forgotten that they feel human attachment to others. True, he had begun to feel some comprehension about how they felt - and then Howell and D's father had interfered...

Still, he'll find D - he promised Chris, after all. So he'll find D for Chris and for himself.

A promise is a promise.

\+ + +

As the months crawl by, each city starts to look the same.

When he first decided that he'd find D, no matter what, he thought that this meant giving up every aspect of his life except for what centred on D, including his job. Leon was sure of this when he explained to the Chief exactly why he needed extended leave and he saw the glint in his boss' eye. It didn't even matter that Jill was blatantly eavesdropping on their conversation.

The Chief sighed, closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "I shouldn't be surprised," he said, and Leon felt something tight in his chest lessen and ease.

So with only the faintest idea of what - or, rather, whom - he was dealing with and no clue of where D had fled to, Leon took the first step of what would be a very long journey.

He doesn't have it in him to give up.

Leon takes the easiest route first, going from city to city in the United States, following the rumours and the crime scenes, his landmarks becoming the Chinatowns of each city. As the months go by, the cities' distinguishing features all blur and meld together. In the end, a city is simply a place where someone can easily blend into and disappear.

He zigzags up to Canada a handful of times before going to South America for one dead-end, before he finds himself in Europe. He expects Europe to be different, but it really isn't. Old or New World, it's all the same - just more dissatisfied people trying to reach for what they can't have. No matter the continent, humanity remains the same.

_"It isn't a question of race or time. White or black, rich or poor, regardless of the era, mankind remains fundamentally the same."_

Leon, staring up at the full moon in an otherwise empty sky, sometimes wonders if perhaps humanity doesn't deserve all that it gets, even himself.

   
  


**~ D is for denial ~**

Really, it's the talking animals-as-people bit that Leon finds difficult to believe.

When he thinks about it, he can see why he can't believe it. Leon comes from a modern family with a modern way of thinking - talking animals simply don't feature.

But he can't forget what he saw on the flying ship. He can't forget a sharp-eyed Tet-chan grinning at him as he lounged, or Pon-chan's squeal as she hugged him. They certainly didn't look like animals.

But part of Leon is still convinced that he imagined it. He's not ashamed to admit that he was pretty out of it by then and coupled with the fact that he'd already thought he was dead and, well, he could be forgiven for thinking and believing some very odd things.

And, simply, animals don't talk.

A stop at the park in the latest city changes all of what he thinks is real.

D has changed Leon - he doesn't dispute this. The last two years have both opened and closed his eyes, and it's driven Leon to his limits. D has aggravated, amused and terrified him, sometimes all at once. D changes everything he touches with a glance, a word, and a signature.

Parks remind Leon of D. The surroundings remind him of D's love of nature and of picnics under trees, bathed in dappled sunlight as they argued and needled each other.

He sits on a weathered bench and sighs, dropping his head on his hands and trying not to appear _too_ depressed. His jacket is no protection against the biting wind and the sky is pathetically overcast. Altogether, it's a miserable day.

"So," a bright voice says, "you're the human who changed him."

Leon lifts his head, blinks, and turns to find a young girl sitting next to him. Specifically, a girl with white-blonde ringlets, large brown eyes and a quick smile is sitting beside him. She swings her legs as she beams at him. At first he thinks she must have accidentally recognised him as someone else, before he takes a closer look at her eyes and sees the alien knowledge inside them. His skin crawls - not human.

At last he finds his voice and says, "You know who I am?"

She smiles again. "The Count said you were a bit dim... now I know what he meant."

Leon sits up straight and glares at her. "He said _what_?"

She giggles. "He also said you'd react like that."

Slumping back in the seat, Leon tries not to sulk and fails. "Typical. This is what I get for chasing him around the world - him badmouthing me to the local animals."

The girl tilts her head and says after a moment, "He doesn't badmouth you, exactly: he just tells us not to let you know he passed through. He really doesn't want you to find him. Did you annoy him? My elders say he's really not a person to annoy."

Leon raises an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah?" he asks tartly. "And what else do your elders tell you?"

She seems to take his question seriously, pondering it for several moments before answering. "Actually, not everything they told me about the Count seems to be true. He's nothing like what he used to be."

"Your elders probably met his father or grandfather," Leon tells her snidely, the familiar red rage settling down on him from whenever he thinks about D's family. Crackers, the lot of them, and D's just heading happily down the same path.

"No," she answers, shaking her head. "The current Count has mismatched eyes; they don't." She hesitates and then adds, "He passed through about a month ago. He stopped for a few weeks and then headed north."

Leon opens his mouth to thank her, before stopping and thinking back on what she has already told him. "You said that he wanted none of you to let me know he passed through. So how do I know you're not lying?" he demands.

The girl smiles brightly once more, her eyes beginning to twinkle. "That's easy," she says, before her face suddenly becomes grave and serious. "I guessed that there has to be a reason he's so desperate for you not to find him. But seeing you sitting here, so sad and alone, I couldn't believe that it was your fault that the Count is fleeing. So I figured you needed some help, that's all."

She smiles again and barks. Leon blinks and a little white dog is streaking back to its owners, barking and wagging its tail. It turns back once, grins at Leon, and then dashes out of sight. Leon stares after it.

Perhaps what happened on the flying ship wasn't his imagination, after all.

   
  
 ****

~ D is for delirium ~

Since meeting Count D, Leon's dreams have never quite been the same.

For one thing, animals appear in his dreams a lot more, not all of them friendly. Not all of them want him to remain alive, either.

D, whenever he appears in Leon's dreams, is so very colourful. Not only in his dress, which often seems like a patterned splash of rainbows, but in the very way he feels in Leon's mind - bright, vibrant, and more alive than anyone Leon has ever known, even when he's grim and sentencing death in another contract.

Sometimes, Leon wonders if he simply wasn't doomed from the very moment they first met.

D is a god, or close enough to it that the technicalities shouldn't matter. D is not human, of that much Leon is certain. He isn't normal and doesn't follow the rules. Leon has watched humans throw themselves at him, bribing him with wealth and flattery, and it's a pity no one ever listens to Leon because he could have told them straight off that none of that was ever going to work. (Chocolate, on the other hand...)

Leon has seen men devoted to their partners or wives stare wistfully after D, and it's a shame because Leon seems to be heading in exactly the same direction.

He doesn't question the fact that D is beautiful in an unearthly sort of way, because he isn't human and thus not handsome in a mortal way, but this attraction always seems so much more obvious in his dreams. In his dreams, Leon never seems to find it difficult to stare unabashedly at D, to take in his wonderment and beauty, and it's never, ever difficult to kiss him like Leon is going to drown if he doesn't.

D never resists, either, carefully nudging Leon's desire into an open flame, allowing Leon to kiss him like he'll devour him, allowing Leon to hold him hard enough to bruise and then to let his hands wander.

It never seems wrong, and Leon wakes up feeling like he's going to die in a good way. Colours seem to spin, the light is too painful, and Leon's erection feels like it's going to kill him. And it's worse because Leon wants to touch, and to fondle, and he's utterly alone and _where the hell has D got to, anyway_?

It's when he's lying in bed and trying to will away his erection that Leon lets himself wonder if it's a good thing that his prospects of finding D are slim. Mostly because Leon can't help wonder what exactly he'll do to D when he finds him, if his dreams are any indication.

   
  
 ****

~ D is for destiny ~

_Once upon a time, a great and ancient people lived in a part of China that was safe from the worst of prying eyes. These people had a great gift in that they could understand the words of the beasts and also had the ability to successfully communicate with them. Through the wonders of this marvellous gift, they were able to convey to the local villagers the prophecies told to them by the sacred beasts. They kept relations open and honest between the animals and the villagers - the beasts, therefore, kept away from the villagers and the villagers mostly curbed their instinctive reaction to destroy what they could not understand, and all was well._

_The years passed, and the people's renown became so great that the Emperor invited them to come and be his personal fortune tellers. People whispered that they were priests, priestesses, hermits and sorcerers. They were different, they were Other, they were not understandable. They were revered, awed, feared, respected, and secretly envied and hated. Love and hatred: the two sides of the same coin._

_Power comes with responsibility, with consequences that are far-reaching. Power is riches and respect, power is status. Power is politely declining a marriage proposal with no idea of what it will mean._

_Power is the ability to cause the end of an entire race._

   
  
 ****

~ D is for desire ~

Sex with D, in Leon's head, is usually hot and rough and the best sex he's ever had. It doesn't usually become an issue that they're both men, so Leon is happy to just ignore that little fact and keep on fantasising.

D's skin is silky soft and warm and utterly touchable. He moans and gasps as he presses himself against Leon, and Leon feels like he's going to explode. Their kisses are wet and lingering and Leon honestly thinks he could keep doing this until it kills himself.

In fact, the damn orgasms very nearly could kill him.

Then Leon wakes up, and it's back to reality, and he's still searching for D. And Leon usually allows his head to fall into his arms and he can't help but think that if he ever finds D, and D figures out what goes through Len's head nowadays, D very well might just feed him to Tet-chan after all.

   
  
 ****

~ D is for disaster ~

"I am not at all pleased with this," D's father says, and Leon sincerely hopes that he is dreaming and that he's going to wake up very fast. There's a limited number of people he wants featuring in his dreams and Papa D never even made the list.

Lunatics, Leon decides, should be treated with wary caution, even deranged lunatics like D's father, so that is what he does. Sort of.

"Pleased with what?" Leon asks, subtly looking around for an easy escape.

"If you're going to desire my son," Papa D says, always blunt at the oddest of moments, "you might as well be _open_ about it."

It's moments like these that Leon remembers why he hates D's family in the first place and why he used that last shot all.

"D is not you and you're definitely not like him, so don't even try," Leon snaps, bracing himself for a fight even though this is a dream and he's (mostly) certain that D's old man can't hurt him.

Papa D smiles, a smile that could easily be described as terrifying. "Oh, human love," he says, "how endearing. You remind me so much of Howell... how fascinating that we would both pick humans of such similar personality. Amusing, some might say."

"I'm not laughing," Leon replies, and means it.

Papa D tuts, shaking his hair so it whirls around him in a dark wave. "I thought you were braver than that," he rebukes him, regarding him almost curiously. Leon is suddenly reminded that D's father tends to view almost everything as a test subject and is suddenly not amused _at all_.

"I think you'd better go," he says, deciding to sound more in control than he feels. "We have nothing to say to each other."

"Perhaps," D's father says. "But... if you're ever going to admit to yourself what you feel for my son, then you'll have to find him first. It's certainly taking you long enough, isn't it?"

Leon can't help himself - the glare he turns on Papa D, he feels, is mightily impressive. D's old man seems to think so, bursting into laughter.

"Oh, _good_ ," he says. "Keep that up and you might just get somewhere. You might even prove to my father that you have a spin, after all, something he thinks you lack in a rather large capacity."

Before Leon can retort, he wakes up.

If D could hear Leon's response to his father's impertinence, he'd start yelling at him for swearing.

The thought is oddly comforting.

   
  
 ****

~ D is for descendant ~

Leon can't remember the name of the city, but that doesn't matter. It's just another city, nothing more. He trudges through the crowds, elbowing his way through when necessary, avoiding any eyes that flicker towards him. But he remains focused, keeping his gaze firmly ahead, searching for a splash of colour amid muted shades, hunting for a shining fall of hair in sunlight. He searches for what is not part of the everyday, for what is not human. Nothing, however, stands out.

Leon stops right in the middle of the street, ignoring the glares and the muttered curses as people swerve to avoid him. He drags a hand through his hair and sighs, squeezing his eyes shut. His head is starting to pound; never a good sign. His surroundings seem to overwhelm him as he tries to ignore the little voice in his head that whispers he will never find D and that it's foolish to even think that he can.

 _No mere mortal_ , that irritating voice murmurs, _can hunt down a god like an animal_.

Actually, Leon thinks to himself with grim humour, it should probably be the other way 'round.

He's pondering the truth in this when there's a flash of colour across his field of vision. Leon freezes, his eyes widening before they immediately narrow, his lips tightening to a thin line. Impossible...

The boy's dressed in a child's version of those Chinese dress-things that D always wears, walking slowly down the street, so sure of himself even at such a young age. He walks like he's alone, not stuck in a thronging crowd. He walks like he's royalty.

Leon is positive that he recognises him from somewhere, and stares.

The boy glances at him, and Leon's world spirals and narrows down to a pair of dark eyes.

_"I will take and raise this child. And someday, he will bequeath his last memory... to the child he fathers."_

Sofu D's voice, soft as silk and dangerous as a noose, whispers in Leon's mind and he jerks, twisting around wildly as he tries to find a god who is not there, a shadow that will haunt him simply for who he is.

The boy... it's the boy that D's old man came back as.

It is all real. Deep down, Leon always knew this, but here is proof, solid proof, unlike a pet shop spaceship, or animals that are people or not people, or floating on clouds and falling and being able to tell the tale. Here is proof that it truly happened.

Staring at the boy, Leon feels a shiver run down his spine as they stare at each other. He cannot shake the sudden feeling that he is being judged and is coming up wanting.

The boy knows who he is - no surprise, Leon remembers, considering who is raising him - and knows exactly how Leon is connected to him.

Leon has never forgotten the last shot he had left.

The boy gives him one last measuring glance and then turns and walks away, still in that slow, assured stride. Leon stares after him as the crowd swallows him up. Time rolls on, but a lot of it passes before Leon finally shakes himself out of his stupor and starts walking again.

The hatred in the boy's eyes will haunt Leon for a very long time.

   
  
 ****

~ D is for disturbance ~

For one brief moment, Leon is positive that a caped figure stood watching him nearby, but when he turned, there was no one there that he recognised. He turns back, shrugs, and tells himself that it was his imagination.

It's better than admitting that D's grandfather is the cause of all his nightmares.

   
  
 ****

~ D is for D ~

"I found you," Leon says, panting and out of breath and ready to burst in a way that he never has before.

D is oddly silent - _hasn't changed a bit_ , Leon realises wildly and not a little frantically - gazing at him with an unreadable expression in his eyes. Leon is vividly reminded of whom he's facing and what he represents, and is suddenly not very sure of anything or what he's spent the last few years doing.

"I found you," he repeats, and that was probably just the dumbest thing he's ever said, topping a very long list.

D's expression lightens and he replies at last, "So it would seem. Well done for finally catching up, Mr. Detective."

The words rankle, as they're supposed to, but Leon bites his tongue and inwardly swears that he will not rise to the bait. He finally does what he should have done years ago and he's pleased to realise that this visibly unsettles D. Hell, did D expect a few years of chasing him down wouldn't change him at all?

Silence descends and, eager to break it, Leon thrusts an old and battered suitcase at him. "Here. I promised Chris I'd return this to you. So I am. So take it."

A brief frown crosses D's lips as he takes the suitcase and opens it. His expressions goes carefully blank, as it always does when D really, really doesn't want Leon to know what he's thinking, but Leon does notice that D's hands tremble when he takes out the singed and rather yellowed drawing that Chris did of them all so many years ago.

"He misses you," is all Leon can think of to say, and for once it seems to be the right thing to say.

D looks up at him, his eyes suddenly reflecting a lot more than Leon would ever have expected them to, but says nothing. He seems unable to. D looks down again, raising his eyes just as Leon remembers what it was like to dream of kissing him.

D raises an eyebrow, and for one long, horrifying moment, Leon has the terrible feeling that his face is an open book and D can read him perfectly.

Moments pass and then a smile spreads across D's lips, an honest smile that Leon can't remember seeing on D before. He glances down at the crayon drawing again and the smile becomes more relaxed and assured.

For one brief wonderful moment, Leon allows himself to hope.

At last D says, in a neutral voice, "Perhaps it is time I paid Christopher a visit." But his eyes say what he will not allow himself to voice, and Leon resists the urge to whoop.

Outside, the sun begins to shine.

**END**

 


End file.
